Today I thought I would do the first lines meme I’ve seen recently at Melanie’s and Kate’s. The idea is to post the first line from each month’s first post as a way to wrap up the year. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this post at first because when I’ve looked over my posts in years past, I’ve been struck at the generally boring way my posts begin. But this year doesn’t seem so bad. So here goes:
January: I’m writing this New Year’s resolutions post three days late and having just spent the morning sleeping in until 11:00 because I was out late last night at a surprise birthday party eating way too much sugar and having lots of fun.
February: I just began Claire Tomalin’s biography of Jane Austen, and so far it’s been great fun to read.
March: I had a lovely snow day today — well, except for the snow — in which I did a lot of nothing: some reading, some email writing, some napping, some gazing out the window.
April: What stands out most to me about Stefan Zweig’s novel from the 1930s, The Post-Office Girl, is rage.
May: Barbara Pym’s novel An Academic Question turned out to be an interesting read for unexpected reasons.
June: I think I may be a new Patrick Hamilton fan.
July: I posted my thoughts on Nabokov’s Lectures on Literature the other day, and now I thought would share some interesting bits from the book.
August: Zhiv commented recently that I should try to get over the guilt I feel about buying books, and when fellow bloggers, particularly ones as kind and encouraging as Zhiv, offer good advice, I generally try to follow it.
September: I’m SO close to finishing Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone that I will have no trouble finishing it tonight before I drop off to sleep.
October: It’ll be a quiet Friday night here, as I’m not quite ready to post on the latest book I’ve finished — Cornell Woolrich’s The Black Angel — and there’s not much else to report on, and I’d really rather get reading ASAP.
November: Yesterday, Hobgoblin, She Knits, Suitcase of Courage, and I had a most wonderful day: we went on a literary pilgrimage up to Walden Pond and Concord to see the place where so many great American writers lived.
December: It’s December 1st, which means it’s time to plan what books I want to read for Emily’s TBR challenge.
These lines give a little taste of what my reading was like last year, and they also say something about my habit of taking time to work up to the point I want to make in my posts, often telling a little something about my life before getting on to the books. I suppose that’s not such a bad habit.
Anybody else want to try this meme?
Of Books and Bicycles 
I love your first line for January–very festive sounding! I like that you take your time getting to what you really want to talk about in your posts–it makes them far more personal than just diving into the facts. I like getting a sense of the personality behind the writer of a blog, which is what always makes me want to go back and read more! I may have to try this one as well….depending on how my first lines sound anyway…
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I love this! I’m definitely doing it too. 🙂
Your first lines have a nice chattiness about them, as if you’re composing letters to your readers. I like them.
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I love that. I think it makes it more like a real conversation you’d have with someone about a book you know. Not just a review or something like that. Very cool meme.
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I agree with the others. Your first lines are chatty and lead into your posts very well. Thanks for the meme. It was fun (and quite helpful to see that I need to settle down a bit).
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I remember you’re lovely post about the trip to Walden Pond. Do you have any literary trip plans fermeting for next year?
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It’s a fun meme and a wonderful way to summarize the year.
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This was fun, trip down memory lane 🙂 I, like everyone else, enjoy your opening lines. It places the book in context and gives it a human connection instead of the “objective” approach. I much prefer personable 🙂
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Nice to read your first lines as well – I agree, it is really nice to get a chatty lead in to your posts. And January really sounded like a great start to the year!
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These are really great first lines. Now, if I could pick any line from the first post, I might do it, but my openings are always incredibly bland! And they do reflect a wonderful reading year.
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These are great first sentences. Wasn’t it a fun way to remember your year of blogging?! 🙂
I don’t do many memes, but I couldn’t resist this one. It was great fun!
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Danielle — I’ll look forward to your first-lines meme as well (if you decide to write one, that is). I’m glad you like a personal element — I definitely enjoy learning a little bit about the bloggers I read. And yes, last January started off very well!
Emily — I like that idea of composing letters to my readers. A letter sounds so much more intimate than writing them a blog post! I’m looking forward to your post.
Iliana — I definitely don’t try to write formal reviews, and I don’t really like calling my posts reviews at all. I’m glad you think it’s conversational — I like that!
Pete — I’m glad you did this meme and found it helpful. It’s great when a meme like this can reveal something to the writer.
Jodie — well, I’m hoping to visit the Austen exhibit at the Morgan Library with the same group of people pretty soon, and I’m planning on going to London where I’m sure I’ll see some literary sites, so yes!
Lilian — it really is a great way to summarize the year.
Stefanie — I prefer personable too. That’s one of the great things about a blog, in fact — it allows the writer to be less formal and more subjective. Yes, a good thing!
Melanie — yes, January last year was a good start, and it turned out to be a pretty good year too. Here’s hoping for a good January for all of us!
Litlove — well, you can pick whatever lines you want to! No need to follow the rules exactly. I doubt, though, that your openings are really all that bland!
Susan — thanks for stopping by! It was definitely a great way to think about the year.
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